Department of Oral Diagnostic Radiology, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Göteborg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. Altogether 1462 women aged 38, 46, 50, 54 and 60 yr were examined in 1968/69 in a combined medical and dental population study in Gothenburg, Sweden. Number of tooth surfaces restored with amalgam fillings was assessed. The examination was repeated in 1980/81 including a new dental examination. The results from a number of biochemical analyses of blood, serum and urine were analyzed for a possible statistical relationship to number of dental amalgam fillings. As emphasis has been put in the literature on special influence from amalgam on kidney function and on the immunological system, special attention was paid to variables which might reflect these functions in our analyses. When potential confounders were taken into consideration, no significant correlations remained which seemed to be of clinical importance. Specifically, amalgam fillings were not found to be associated with impairment of the kidney function or the immunological status. PMID: 7587142 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

There is a lack of common surveillance systems providing comparable figures and temporal trends of the prevalence of overweight (OW), obesity and related risk factors among European preschool and school children. Comparability of available data is limited in terms of sampling design, methodological approaches and quality assurance. The IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS) study provides one of the largest European data sets of young children based on state-of-the-art methodology.

BACKGROUND: The European IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study was set up to determine the aetiology of overweight, obesity and related disorders in children, and to develop and evaluate a tailored primary prevention programme. OBJECTIVE: This paper focuses on the aetiological element of the multicentre study, the measures and examinations, sociodemographic characteristics of the study sample and proportions of participation. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with an embedded intervention study that started with a baseline survey in eight countries in 2007-2008. SUBJECTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Baseline participants of the prospective cohort study were 16,224 children aged 2-9 years. Parents reported sociodemographic, behavioural, medical, nutritional and other lifestyle data for their children and families. Examinations of children included anthropometry, blood pressure, fitness, accelerometry, DNA from saliva and physiological markers in blood and urine. The built environment, sensory taste perception and other mechanisms of children's food choices and consumer behaviour were studied in subgroups. RESULTS: Between 1507 and 2567, children with a mean age of 6.0 years and an even sex distribution were recruited from each country. Of them, 82% lived in two-parent families. The distribution of standardised income levels differed by study sample, with low-income groups being strongly represented in Cyprus, Italy and Germany. At least one 24-h dietary recall was obtained for two-thirds of the children. Blood pressure and anthropometry were assessed in more than 90%. A 3-day accelerometry was performed in 46%, motor fitness was assessed in 41%, cardiorespiratory fitness in 35% and ∼11% participated in taste perception tests. The proportion of children donating venous blood, urine and saliva was 57, 86 and 88%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The IDEFICS cohort provides valuable data to investigate the interplay of social, environmental, genetic, physiological and behavioural factors in the development of major diet- and lifestyle-related disorders affecting children at present.

Department of Medicine, Sahlgren's Hospital, University of Göteborg, Sweden. OBJECTIVE--To evaluate androgen concentrations in relation to insulin resistance in men and women with and without NIDDM. Recent studies have indicated the potential importance of the regulation of insulin sensitivity by androgens in both women and men. Low sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) concentration is an independent risk factor for the development of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in women and is strongly associated statistically with signs of insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--We compared measurements of anthropometric variables and SHBG, steroid hormone, and insulin concentrations of women and men who have NIDDM with those of control subjects. RESULTS--Women with NIDDM had somewhat higher plasma insulin concentrations, lower SHBG, and higher free testosterone values than did control subjects with similar body mass index (BMI). Women with NIDDM had marginally higher waist-to-hip ratios (WHR). Plasma insulin concentrations correlated positively with BMI, WHR, and free testosterone and negatively with SHBG. In multivariate analyses, insulin concentrations remained positively associated with BMI and free testosterone. Men with NIDDM had higher fasting plasma insulin concentrations than did the nondiabetic control subjects. Testosterone and SHBG were lower in the diabetic men than in both control groups. The derived value of free testosterone was not different between groups. Univariate correlation analyses revealed tight statistical couplings between plasma insulin on the one hand and SHBG and testosterone concentrations (negative) on the other. In multivariate analyses, only the insulin-testosterone association remained. CONCLUSIONS: Women with NIDDM have high levels of free testosterone and low levels of SHBG. Insulin resistance is closely correlated with these signs of hyperandrogenicity as well as with obesity. Men with NIDDM also have low levels of SHBG and, in contrast to women, low testosterone values. Insulin values correlate negatively with these hormonal factors. Based on the results of experimental work and intervention studies, we suggest that these androgen abnormalities might be causally related to insulin resistance in NIDDM. PMID: 8062607 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Previous research has indicated that a variety of contextual factors are involved in the development of drinking behavior. An integrated perspective can extend our understanding of the context and circumstances in which individuals drink. In this study, a person-oriented approach, cluster analysis, was used to identify drinking context clusters in a population of 20- and 25-year-old Swedish women. A further aim was to analyze how these clusters were associated with problematic alcohol consumption (high episodic drinking (HED) and alcohol use disorder (AUD)). A total of 760 respondents were interviewed, some in 1996 and some in 2001. Self-reported effects of drinking and situational factors associated with drinking alcohol were used in the cluster analysis procedure. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations with problematic alcohol consumption. The results revealed four distinct clusters of drinking patterns: coping drinkers, social drinkers, controlled drinkers, and moderate drinkers. Differences between clusters concerning problematic alcohol consumption were found. HED was significantly more common among the social drinkers and alcohol use disorder was more prevalent among the coping drinkers. Age differences and to a lesser extent secular trends in drinking pattern could be observed. The findings suggest that information on drinking context can help to explain differences in patterns of risky drinking and AUD. This highlights the importance of identifying groups of individuals with potentially harmful drinking patterns, which could be the target of specific preventive actions.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between salivary counts of mutans streptococci (MS) and children's weight status, while considering associated covariates. MS ferments carbohydrates from the diet and contributes to caries by lowering the pH in dental plaque. In adults, high counts of MS in saliva have been associated with overweight, but this has not been shown in children.

BackgroundThe objective of this paper is to investigate differences in diets of families in intervention versus control communities 5years after the Identification and Prevention of Dietary- and Lifestyle-Induced Health Effects in Children and Infants intervention ended. MethodsAltogether, 4,691 families from the I.Family study with at least one participating parent and one child are included in this analysis. Diet quality indicators, defined as propensities to consume fat, sugar, water and fruit and vegetables, are calculated from a 59-item food frequency questionnaire. Multilevel linear models with random intercepts for study centre are used to determine whether mean diet indicators, calculated at the family level, differed as a function of previous exposure to the intervention. ResultsFamilies in the intervention communities reported a significantly lower sugar propensity (19.8% vs. 20.7% of total food items, p<0.01) and a higher water propensity (47.3% vs. 46.0% of total beverages, p<0.05) compared with families in the control communities, while fat and fruit and vegetables propensities were similar. No significant diet differences between intervention and control children were present at the Identification and Prevention of Dietary- and Lifestyle-Induced Health Effects in Children and Infants baseline. DiscussionThis result indicates better diet quality in intervention families, which was not present in children when their diets were assessed before the intervention, and gives some cause for optimism regarding the sustainability of some aspects of the diet intervention.

The etiologic role of genetic and environmental factors on disordered eating was examined in a sample of 15- to 17-year-old female-female, male-male, and opposite-sex twin pairs. Also assessed was whether a single factor is underlying 3 facets (body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, bulimia) of disordered eating, including the possible importance of sex differences. Univariate model-fitting analyses indicated that genetic factors are more important for girls and environment more important for boys for body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. A multivariate common factor analysis indicated that a single factor accounted for the association among these 3 facets of disordered eating in both sexes. However, only 50% of the genetic risk for this factor is shared between the sexes.